11-04-2025, 04:22 AM
Heirloom Recipe
She saw the break of dawn and eggs together---
yellow rays and yolks, then pancakes magically appeared.
Warm loaves of bread sprouted like mushrooms.
(Mushrooms also sprouted on her custom-ordered log).
Something was always boiling, baking, rising, or basting,
while the laws of nature and reality would bend around her
to accommodate her wind-like whims and sketchy add-ins.
Nothing was ever measured. Every dish was always amazing.
I thought cooking would be easy. I thought
bread basically makes itself. I thought
soup didn't need to follow rules. (it does).
I thought---but I was wrong. Dismally.
I can only conclude that my mother has magic,
that she is some fey being who crossed realms long ago.
She fills her house with aromas and songs---with memories
and biscuits I will never be able to replicate when she is gone.
She saw the break of dawn and eggs together---
yellow rays and yolks, then pancakes magically appeared.
Warm loaves of bread sprouted like mushrooms.
(Mushrooms also sprouted on her custom-ordered log).
Something was always boiling, baking, rising, or basting,
while the laws of nature and reality would bend around her
to accommodate her wind-like whims and sketchy add-ins.
Nothing was ever measured. Every dish was always amazing.
I thought cooking would be easy. I thought
bread basically makes itself. I thought
soup didn't need to follow rules. (it does).
I thought---but I was wrong. Dismally.
I can only conclude that my mother has magic,
that she is some fey being who crossed realms long ago.
She fills her house with aromas and songs---with memories
and biscuits I will never be able to replicate when she is gone.
The Soufflé isn’t the soufflé; the soufflé is the recipe. --Clara